2012 was a year of firsts. First, Spooky Hollow Experience finally entered a float in the Baldwin June Bug Days Parade. The entry proved to be a good one, for the artisans won 1st prize in local entry. The float was the first announcement of this year’s theme “Hollow-Apocalypse.” Spooky Hollow creator Gina Rosenquist was dressed as a biochemical engineer, while two helpers were dressed as zombies.

“There was a trail of blood all the way down Main street.” states Gina. “One of our helpers walked up to one lady, who was sucking on a lollypop. He took a bite of a brain prop and let blood squirt out his mouth. The lady panicked an threw her sucker at him. At one point a Baldwin Police officer walked up to our helper and asked if he was alright. It was a lot of fun. I can not believe it took us this long to enter in to the parade.”

Spooky Hollow Experience will enter a float in the 2013 parade. What will they enter? You will have to attend to find out.

In 2011, creators Gina and Jack were overwhelmed during take down. It was decided that the “Pit,” the building over the deck, would have to go.

“It was always hard to scare anyone in the Pit.” states Jack. “Plus, people automatically thought that you would go through our house. We have never allowed anyone through our house. It’s our house! Would you allow strangers to go through your house? I don’t think so.”

No matter what Jack and Gina did to cover up the entrance door to their house, people would try to break in. During the summer, the Pit was destroyed and burned.

“It was hard to let go one of the longest props that we have ever had.” tells Gina. “However, we wanted our decision to be final. No more Pit!”

But, the Pit is not totally gone. The artisans used many of the materials to make a miniature mausoleum.

“Next to the Catalpa tree was always a dead zone.” states Gina. “It was an area that could be viewed by two spots. It was always so hard to determine what to put there. Now we have the mini mausoleum which can be viewed by both areas.”

Other new props included several new tombstones, bio-chemical barrels and a bio-chemical spill. However, the one new thing that most people did not realize is that the artisans removed thirty tombstones to make way for new and better tombstones.

This year, the artisans chose to dig out several props that had not been part of the display in nearly six years. The first was the haunted train. The last time we saw this prop was back in 2005, when it was first introduced. The second prop to return to the display was the outhouse. This prop made its final show this year and will be destroyed to make room for bigger and better props. The final prop to return was two fences. These fences were given to Spooky Hollow by Gina’s Mother. The fences are the oldest prop at Spooky Hollow. They were part of Spooky Hollow’s first fence.

The most popular props to return, return every four years with the Presidential race. The artisans prove their sense of humor with two signs depicting "Vote Peter Griffin" and "Vote Homer Simpson" for President. Who would you vote for?

2012 was also a difficult year. Many props broke due to age and replacing them costs double then previous years. Then Spooky Hollow Experience hosted its 3rd Annual Light-up Ceremony on October 1, 2012. The 2012-2013 Baldwin Queen’s court approached Spooky Hollow to host a fund raiser on this night. The court had made caramel apples and hot apple cider to sell to raise funds for Spooky Hollow. Spooky Hollow gave the court fliers to hang up all over town; however, the court gave the fliers to other area Queen’s courts. Thus, the end result was a teenage Halloween party in which all of the courts ate all the donated baked goods and funds were not raised. The Baldwin Court did flip the switch to turn everything on for the first time.

Other difficulties involved crew members. Six crew members chose not to fully commit to Spooky Hollow so Jack and Gina made the decision to expel them from present and future Spooky Hollow Experiences. The decision proved to be a HUGE benefit! Spooky Hollow welcomed two new crew members who proved to be better actors and major assets than the previous six crew members.

The final difficulty came on October 10, 2012. Gina’s father, Delbert Singerhouse, passed away suddenly from an aneurysm in his stomach. Gina was fortunate to arrive at the hospital prior to her father’s passing.

“My father was a man who taught me many things.” tells Gina. “He always told me the best way of learning was by doing. In his life, he had many jobs including farmer and construction worker. Through him I learned how to build things. He was a man who loved and treated children with respect. He was a man of great honor, respect, love and intelligence. He served in the Korean War. He was my hero for so many reasons. I dedicate this year’s haunt to him."

The mausoleum was turned into a Hospital called "Ladies Of The Worthless Miracle." The problem was for visitors, the Hospital was full of zombies!

In the end, the Boo Crew pulled together to help Jack and Gina put on the best Spooky Hollow Experience ever! The show began with a dedication to Gina’s father. Then the bombs went off as the world came to an end at the corner of Maple and 12th.

2012

Hollow-Apocalypse

Spooky Hollow 2012 advertisement.

Gina Rosenquist relaxes just prior to the 2012 Hollow-Apocalypse show.